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Fitness Gets You There FasterThere is no question that the more time you spend on the mat drilling and sparring the faster you will improve. This is true for Judo, Jiu jitsu, wrestling or any martial art. And as we have all heard jiu jitsu is based on leverage and technique versus strength and athleticism. So, why then, is fitness so important, not just to top athletes, but to everyone involved in martial arts? Furthermore, how can having a high level of fitness get you the results you want to achieve in grappling faster? Well, unless you have superior technique to everyone on the planet, you will need some degree of endurance to keep going. If you are a competitor, no question, you have to be in shape. Sure you may win a few matches on skill alone but when your tank does go empty against another very skilled competitor, your skills go out the window. They're useless! Any serious competitor knows this all too well. However if you are serious about improving your grappling, competitor or not, then fitness should be a top priority. It is a fact that the more time you spend on the mat the more you will improve. If you "gas out" after the first sparring match or just from doing drills then you are significantly reducing your training time. Just "being" in class is not the same as "training" in class. It's like going to the gym for 2 hours but only working out for 20 minutes(20 minutes is actually enough if you know what your doing). The more "mat time" you get the more you will grow as a martial artist. But, more important, is the quality of that mat time. When you are fatiqued and struggling to keep going then you are not thinking clearly. Jiu jitsu is a thinking game and you won't get far without using your brain. That is why it is so important to condition your body so you can be prepared to use your mind when you feel fatiqued. You need to have confidence that your fitness level can withstand your physical output when the going gets tough. The bottom line is that "PHYSICAL FITNESS IMPROVES MENTAL TOUGHNESS." I guarantee that if you work to improve your fitness level and use this new found fitness to spend more time on the mat(focusing on technique), your technical level will increase as well. Actually it will explode. The only way this won't happen is if you use your fitness without using your brain. Train with a purpose, to get more technical and effective on the mat. Train hard but always train smart. Hard training is wasted if you learn nothing. So remember, get in shape, stay in shape, challenge yourself physically and mentally, fix your mistakes, train smart, train smart and never stop learning. Good training.
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